Far Cry 5 single player campaign (look elsewhere for online play reviews).

What's to like? The answer is "a lot". Great visuals, good voice acting, open world, RPG elements, attention to audio (including actual song licenses), but....

It still suffers from what can only be called "bad story telling". As I'd just finished Far Cry 3, and ultimately gave it a thumbs down (for similar reasons), I now know I don't need to play FC4. The fundamental issues is the use of a "game mechanic" that is essentially an excuse for extremely lazy writing and story telling. Each "boss" at some point captures the protagonist MULTIPLE times during the game (per FC3)--but you "escape" each time. Here, at least, there exists an in-game pseudo-reason called Bliss, a mind-altering drug that you are exposed to multiple times during the story. It's introduction as a maguffin serves to make those Quick Time Event "captures" and associated escapes at least somewhat palatable.

But at the end, I have to ask myself--if I have to put up with exceptionally poor storytelling (even though there is a kernel of a good story here), what is the payoff (ending)? Unfortunately, this game falls flat on it's face here. In many ways it's reminiscent of Mass Effect 3: there's no REALLY good ending. I'd say this game has three endings: a "good" one, a "bad" one, and a "really bad" one. On my play through, I ended up picking the "bad" one (the game play will likely drive most players to the "really bad" one). Picking the "good" one means you get a long QTE event, a choice, and the game ends. Maybe 10 minutes of total play (i.e. that "good" ending occurs in the introductory scene). For me, that's inexcusable...thumbs down.

Far Cry 5 single player campaign (look elsewhere for online play reviews). What's to like? The answer is "a lot". Great visuals, good voice acting, open world, RPG elements, attention to audio (including actual song licenses), but.... It still suffers from what can only be called "bad story telling". As I'd just finished Far Cry 3, and ultimately gave it a thumbs down (for similar reasons), I now know I don't need to play FC4. The fundamental issues is the use of a "game mechanic" that is essentially an excuse for extremely lazy writing and story telling. Each "boss" at some point captures the protagonist MULTIPLE times during the game (per FC3)--but you "escape" each time. Here, at least, there exists an in-game pseudo-reason called Bliss, a mind-altering drug that you are exposed to multiple times during the story. It's introduction as a maguffin serves to make those Quick Time Event "captures" and associated escapes at least somewhat palatable. But at the end, I have to ask myself--if I have to put up with exceptionally poor storytelling (even though there is a kernel of a good story here), what is the payoff (ending)? Unfortunately, this game falls flat on it's face here. In many ways it's reminiscent of Mass Effect 3: there's no REALLY good ending. I'd say this game has three endings: a "good" one, a "bad" one, and a "really bad" one. On my play through, I ended up picking the "bad" one (the game play will likely drive most players to the "really bad" one). Picking the "good" one means you get a long QTE event, a choice, and the game ends. Maybe 10 minutes of total play (i.e. that "good" ending occurs in the introductory scene). For me, that's inexcusable...thumbs down.